Lucy Letby is given a whole life term, with no chance of parole, for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six more
"This was a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder," the judge says
Letby refused to appear in court - Rishi Sunak confirms the government is planning to change the law to compel convicts to attend sentencing
This morning, one mother said the murder of her son was "like something out of a horror story"
Other parents said their surviving children, whom Letby attempted to murder, are now disabled
Just three other woman have ever been given whole life terms - Myra Hindley, Rosemary West, and Joanna Dennehy
You can watch the judge's sentencing remarks by pressing the Play button above.
Sometimes the feed will be suspended for a few moments for legal reasons, to protect the identity of the victims and their families.
The judge, Justice Goss, is now up and due to start delivering his remarks on the sentencing of Lucy Letby.
You can watch it live by clicking the play button at the top of your screen. The cameras may sometimes cut out for legal reasons.
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
We're back in court
There are two dock officers in the dock, but Letby isn't there.
Dominic Casciani
Legal correspondent, reporting from court
If Mr Justice Goss wants to impose a whole life order, he must explain how Letby's crimes fit a number of tests in sentencing law that were passed by Parliament.
The usual first test is whether there were two or more murder victims - in this case there are seven.
A whole life order can be imposed for a single killing - but they are very rare. The judge must decide whether the seriousness of Letby's crimes is "exceptionally high".
He needs to consider the lengths Letby went to in her premeditation and planning - and whether she was sadistic.
Parliament has also given judges the discretion to take into account other exceptional factors that are specific to a case.
If the judge decides Letby crosses the bar for a whole life order, before he can pass that sentence, he must consider any mitigating factors which all defendants have a right to present. He does not need to accept any of them. The defence in this case have presented none.
Ione Wells
Political correspondent
As we've reported, Lucy Letby refusing to appear for her sentencing today has reignited calls to make this mandatory.
Rishi Sunak said this morning the government is planning to change the law. Opposition parties agree.
But the issue lies in the practicalities, not the politics. And there are lots of questions about how this would work.
Firstly, if laws are toughened to punish people more if they don't attend - will people facing life sentences be deterred by the threat of a few more months potentially?
Secondly, there's the physical force required to drag someone from prison to the courts, and then potentially from the courts up lots of winding stairs to the docks.
This is currently possible if force is considered "reasonable" - but prison governors, and later judges, must make that call.
Then there is the issue of whether, if you drag someone to court against their will, will they try sabotage it by screaming and shouting and drowning out the judge?
Or shout abuse at grieving families or victims? Or produce an insult by simply sticking fingers in their ears?
There's potentially nothing stopping a sentence being streamed into someone's cell - but does this have the same impact if they can't be addressed directly? And again, they could just cover their ears.
We'll find out shortly just how long Letby will go to jail for. Just to recap, she is due to be sentenced for the murder and attempted murder of babies on the neonatal unit where she worked as a nurse.
The severity of her crime could mean she is given a whole life order - a sentence given only in the most serious murder cases., external
Normally, when a judge passes a life sentence, they will specify the minimum term an offender must spend in prison before they can become eligible to apply for parole.
In the case of a whole life order, the crime is deemed so serious that the offender must spend the rest of their life behind bars, expect in exceptional compassionate circumstances, according to the government, external.
This morning, the prosecution said a whole life order is what they'll be asking the judge for. The defence said they were able to offer no mitigation that could reduce the sentence that will be passed.
A reminder, we know a lot of the details in this coverage are extremely distressing.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article you can visit BBC Action Line which has details of organisations offering support.
The victim impact statements by parents have now finished.
The judge says he will now have a break and will pass sentence in about half hour, at 12:30.
We'll bring you the judge's sentencing remarks live on a video feed from court. You'll be able to watch by clicking Play at the top of this page.
Stick with us and we'll bring you the updates as they happen.
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
The father of babies O and P has been sobbing throughout the delivery of his statement, which was pre-recorded on video. Many in court are tearful too.
"It is always hard to explain to [triplet 3] that he was a triplet and trying to answer any questions that he may have," says the dad of babies O and P, who both were killed.
"Since the news about Lucy Letby, I have attended several counselling sessions provided by victim support services. I am still classed as ‘long term sick’ and continue to take anti-depressants".
"In the courtroom everything became so real, seeing Lucy Letby for the first time since 2016 was difficult.
"Hearing the evidence unfold was hard as I was discovering latest information about the case that I was unaware of. More so the texts that Letby had sent to her work colleagues and the personal Facebook searches. I thought that these actions were both in poor taste and unnatural, hearing this in open court sent a shiver down my spine."
"Lucy Letby has destroyed our lives. The anger and the hatred I have towards her will never go away. It has destroyed me as a man and as a father. I have missed over six years of our children’s lives because of her actions. Even after the trial has ended, it will continue to haunt us and will always have an impact on our lives."
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
The father of babies O and P, who were both killed, says his mental health deteriorated: "As time went on, around a year after [their] first anniversary, I was still struggling to come to terms with their deaths and so I turned to alcohol... One day I took the car keys and had thoughts of ending my life..."
"Life was slowly improving but then in 2018, police informed us that nurse Lucy Letby had been arrested, I recall that she was one of the nurses that had cared for the boys whilst at the Countess.
"At first, I was gobsmacked but also relieved that there was finally some form of explanation for the deaths of [babies O and P] and all my issues had not been in vain."
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
The father of murdered babies O and P says he "did not receive any counselling or support, after losing the boys".
"I didn’t know how to deal with situation or what to tell our eldest child, we had had no guidance for the siblings.
"There was no contact from the Countess whatsoever, our extended family kindly offered to collect the memory boxes, but this wasn’t acceptable at the Countess, the hospital wanted the direct family to collect which made us very upset and angry as we never had any intentions of returning."
He adds: "I did briefly return to work, but then the breakdowns happened which affected my mental health, I became irritable, angry, and bad tempered and started having terrible nightmares. I hid all of this from [my partner] and didn’t share my thoughts and feelings which placed a huge amount of stress on the relationship".
"I found it difficult to talk about what had happened, I could not grieve properly and became cocooned and insular. Everyday life was difficult, just getting up and living was a struggle. It was difficult to be happy around [the surviving triplet] and our eldest child, I felt guilty if I showed any happiness, normal life was impossible to enjoy. This affected our children when he saw me upset."
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
The father of babies O and P - two brothers killed by Letby who were part of a set of triplets - tells the court how his second son became poorly the day after their other son had died.
"I did not know what was happening, we were still waiting for an explanation for [baby O]. The experience seemed far worse than the previous day, I knew it was bad, and I was terrified at losing another boy.
"The whole ordeal was a repeat of the previous day, I knew it was not going to end well. I thought we were going down the same road as we did with baby O".
"[Baby P] sadly passed away later that afternoon... We pleaded with the doctor that they had to take (the surviving triplet) with them to the Liverpool Women's Hospital and that he could not stay in this hospital and that he wasn’t safe there.
"All I could think about was getting [triplet 3] out of the Countess. Eventually they agreed to take him and we were overjoyed on hearing this news".
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
A video statement by the father of brothers O and P, who both died, is now being shown to the courtroom.
The dad talks about the time that they learned they were expecting triplets: "A specialist consultant informed us that it was extremely rare to see naturally conceived identical triplets.
"The team were happy with the births, and I was told how lucky we were... It was later that same day; we were both allowed to go and see the boys. We were so excited at how well the boys were doing and commented on how identical they were, it was almost impossible to tell them apart."
The father talks about the deterioration of baby O, saying: "I noticed the colour of [baby O]'s skin was changing rapidly, it didn’t appear normal to the naked eye, it was horrific to see, and it is an image that I’ll never forget, deep down I knew it was not going to end well.
"[Baby O] received a blessing from the priest and was quickly christened, moments later, he was gone."
"I felt like I had been stabbed in the heart, no words could describe how I was feeling. I kept wishing it had happened to me and at that time would have gladly taken his place."
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
The mother of babies O and P, two murdered boys who were part of a set of triplets, says the trial was the first time she had seen Letby since 2016.
The text messages that Letby sent about seeing [my sons] looking peaceful in their cots was very difficult, she says.
"I hate the fact that Lucy Letby was the last person to hold (baby P). She has destroyed our lives."
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
The court is now being played pre-recorded video of the statements by the parents of babies O and P, two triplet brothers who were murdered by Letby in June 2016.
The boys' mother says: "I started to blame myself. I thought I'd passed on an illness to all three of the boys... an infection.
"I only have one photo of me holding all three boys together but this was after [baby O] had passed.
"Nurse Letby was inconsolable after the death of [baby P] and I recall saying 'thank you'."
The boys' mother adds: "I have experienced panic attacks which have required medical intervention... the [third triplet] as he grows, is asking questions about his brothers.
Going through the "firsts" with the surviving triplet is very hard, she says.
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
More from the parents of baby N, who Letby tried to kill. Their statement is being read to the court.
"We believe baby N has lasting damage as a result of the injuries he sustained," saying that he can be sick when he’s eating, coughing or running around, which can be caused by trauma to the throat.
"He's just turned seven years old. We still have a camera watching him sleep. We are extremely protective... We wanted him to be home schooled as we didn't want anybody else looking after him.
"We do everything possible to keep him safe now. If that means wrapping him up in cotton wool then that is what we will do. We know we smother him with love and affection. We don't give him boundaries, because we don't want him to be sad and upset."
The mother of baby N says that possibility of going back into the neonatal unit stopped them having any more children. "We don't want her [Letby] to know the damage that she's left... or get any satisfaction from the hurt she's caused."
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
The next statement is being read on behalf of the family of baby N, a little boy who Letby attempted to murder in June 2016.
"The day we were called to the neonatal unit was the worst day of our lives... seeing our tiny baby fighting for his life... seeing medics doing CPR on his tiny body.
"We both relive this every day, because not a day goes by without thinking about that day."
"I honestly knew [baby N] had been deliberately harmed... I don't know if it was a mother's instinct, but I just knew."
As we've been reporting, Letby has refused to attend today's sentencing and is not currently in the courtroom, where emotional parents are reading their victim impact statements.
The government has faced calls previously to change the law to compel criminals to appear at such hearings.
Asked about this this morning, PM Rishi Sunak said the government was working on this and would bring forward a law change "in due course".
Watch his full reaction to the situation here.
Sunak: Letby Cowardly to not face victims' families in court
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
We are now hearing a statement read on behalf of the father of twin boys, babies L and M, who Letby tried to kill.
"Initially doctors told us that the whole events that took place in 2016 surrounding my children was normal for premature babies and we believed what the doctors were telling us at the time.
"Little did we know that a year or so after their birth, the police would come knocking on the door and break the news that this could be an attempted murder case."
His statement goes on to say: "There was a day when I was at the trial and the public gallery was full and I was sat in Lucy Letby’s line of view and she kept looking over at me. That made me feel quite uncomfortable and uneasy and I had to move in the afternoon so I was out of her view".
Judith Moritz
Inside the courtroom
The statement from baby I's mother continues. Baby I was killed by Letby in October 2015.
"On the night baby I died we were speaking with the nurses in room one and they said at the rate she was improving there was still a chance she could be home for Christmas," she says. "When they handed baby I to us we never wanted to let her go. We held her so tight.
"She was our gorgeous little princess and I can't even begin to explain the pain when we lost her. A part of us died with her".
Baby I's mother says that in the first year after baby I's death, she wore sunglasses permanently "to hide the pain and tears from my kids as I didn't want to upset them as they were also struggling".
She describes her struggle to be out in public, eat and sleep due reliving her daughter's collapses "like they were at that moment, happening again".
"I felt like I was sinking into a black hole and it was getting harder to keep myself going," the mother adds. She says she was later prescribed gave her anti-depressants, sleeping tablets and beta blockers.
She says: "When they told us they were arresting some one for [baby I]'s murder I remember my whole body shaking. I don't think we will ever get over the fact that our daughter was tortured till she had no fight left in her."